Transformaties van de Argonautenmythe in de roman Een vreemde stam heeft mij geroofd van Willem Brakman

Abstrakt

Transformations of the myth of the Argonauts in the novel Een vreemde stam heeft mij geroofd by Willem Brakman

The following article deals with the transformation of the myth of Jason and the Argonauts in the novel Een vreemde stam heeft mij geroofd 1992 written by Willem Brakman. The legend of the Argonauts tells about a mythical journey in quest of the Golden Fleece. Working on his own version, Brakman relied on the epic poem The Argonautica written in the 3rd century BC by Apollonius of Rhodes. Brakman rewrote the myth of the Argonauts by placing the action in 20th-century Netherlands. The research aim is to discover in what way Brakman transforms the original story as set in The Argonautica and to compare these two versions. Brakman’s novel differs from the original in the changes to the plot or characters. Moreover, he combines the legend of the Argonauts with other mythical stories such as that of Oedipus, Odysseus, Theseus. Gérard Genette’s theory of intertextuality serves as the theoretical background of the article.